Ecclesiastes 7:29

Ecclesiastes 7:29 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
• New International Version (NIV)This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”

Context of Ecclesiastes 7:29

27“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, 28which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman. Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes.”

Ecclesiastes 7:29 word by word

לְבַד֙ רְאֵה־זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֧ה הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָדָ֖ם יָשָׁ֑ר וְהֵ֥מָּה בִקְשׁ֖וּ חִשְּׁבֹנ֥וֹת רַבִּֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Loרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: behold!H7200
• this onlyבַּדbad · aloneH905
• have I foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• that Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• hath madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• uprightיָשָׁרyâshâr · uprightH3477
• but they have sought outבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• manyרַבrab · manyH7227
• inventionsחִשָּׁבוֹןchishshâbôn · inventionH2810

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:29

• Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
• Genesis 5:1This is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God;
• Genesis 3:6The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
• Genesis 6:5When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,
• Genesis 11:4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”
• Psalms 99:8Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their sinful actions.
• Psalms 106:29They angered the Lord with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them.
• Jeremiah 2:12Be appalled at this, heavens; be shocked and utterly desolated! This is the Lord’s declaration.
• Jeremiah 4:22“For my people are fools; they do not know me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good.”
• Ezekiel 22:16You will be profaned in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
• Mark 7:8Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.”
• Acts 7:40They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.
• Romans 1:21For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.
• Romans 3:9What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin,
• Ephesians 2:2in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:29

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 29Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright - Whatever evil may be now found among men and women, it is not of God; for God made them all upright. This is a singular verse, and has been most variously translated: רבים חשבנות בקשו והמה ישר האדם את האלהים עשה asah haelohim eth haadam yashar vehemhah bikkeshu chishbonoth rabbim . "Elohim has made mankind upright, and they have sought many computations." "He hath meddled with endless…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 29God hath made - Rather, God made. A definite allusion to the original state of man: in which he was exempt from vanity.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 23-29Verses 23-29 Solomon, in his search into the nature and reason of things, had been miserably deluded. But he here speaks with godly sorrow. He alone who constantly aims to please God, can expect to escape; the careless sinner probably will fall to rise no more. He now discovered more than ever the evil of the great sin of which he had been guilty, the loving many strange women, I Kin. 11:1. A woman thoroughly upright and godly, he had not found. How was…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 29After much searching, the Teacher found that humanity's decline from God's created order (Genesis 1:27–28; 2:23–25; 3:1–19) was repeated by Adam and Eve's descendants (compare Romans 3:10–18, 23).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2929. The "only" way of accounting for the scarcity of even comparatively upright men and women is that, whereas God made man upright, they (men) have, &c. The only account to be "found" of the origin of evil, the great mystery of theology, is that given in Holy Writ (Ge 2:1-3:24). Among man's "inventions" was the one especially referred to in Ec 7:26, the bitter fruits of which Solomon experienced, the breaking of God's primeval marriage law, joining one…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:29

• Depravity of Man
• Fall of Man
• God
• Man

In the dictionaries

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Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings